“Saxophonist Marsalis leads one of the most cohesive, intense small jazz ensembles on the scene today!” - Associated Press
Branford Marsalis Quartet, Kurt Elling, Carmen Lundy

Branford Marsalis Quartet with special guest Kurt Elling have been nominated for a 2017 GRAMMY Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album for their album, Upward Spiral!

Branford Marsalis has stayed the course. From his early acclaim as a saxophonist bringing new energy and new audiences to the jazz art, he has refined and expanded his talents and his horizons as a musician, composer, bandleader and educator – a 21st Century mainstay of artistic excellence. The 3-time Grammy Award-winning Branford Marsalis Quartet, known for the telepathic communication among its uncommonly consistent personnel, its deep book of original music replete with expressive melodies and provocative forms, and an unrivaled spirit in both live and recorded performances, has long been recognized as the standard to which other ensembles of its kind must be measured.

The Quartet will be joined by guest-vocalist and Grammy Award-winner Kurt Elling in a singular collaboration of musical forces. Elling won the DownBeat Critics Poll for 14 consecutive years and was named “Male Singer of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association eight times in that same span. Every one of Elling’s ten albums has been nominated for a Grammy. The tight-knit working band featuring Marsalis on saxophones, Joey Calderazzo on piano, Eric Revis on bass, and Justin Faulkner on drums rarely invites other musicians into the folds of their nearly telepathically cohesive unit, and Elling’s deep jazz vocabulary, technical versatility, and outstanding intonation will enable the band to perform a variety of material in new ways.

Energized by the artistic promise of this collaboration, the band members have all contributed new arrangements to perform with this special line-up and will be looking beyond the Great American Songbook. Although followin